Mantashe unexpectedly addresses oil conference on Monday
Although not programmed to do so, South African Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe addressed the Ministerial and VIP Symposium of the Africa Oil Week conference and Green Energy Africa Summit, being held in Cape Town, on Monday.
Mantashe was programmed to deliver a keynote address at the conference on Tuesday.
“Africa is the least developed part of the world,” he pointed out. “But it has immense potential.”
He highlighted the continent’s great mineral riches. “All those minerals should be beneficiated here, on the continent.”
He noted that no investor came to the continent to “save” it. They came to Africa to make money. But in the process, they created jobs. “We must welcome investors here, in this continent,” he affirmed. Investors needed strong Governments and the assurance of policy stability.
Regarding the need to transition from high-carbon to low-carbon energy sources, he observed that all agreed on the need to do this. The question, however, was how to do it. He further noted that the European Union had classified natural gas and nuclear energy as low-carbon energy sources.
As for the concept of the ‘Just Energy Transition’, he said “justice must be seen to be done”. A just transition had to be community focused. He highlighted that, should coal be rapidly phased out in South Africa, ten towns in the country would immediately become ghost towns. He then posed the question: how was the Just Energy Transition to be managed?
He stressed the importance of the African Union developing a common position for the entire African continent, consolidating the views of the different African countries. He pointed out that, in much of Africa, the need was to actually connect many people to energy. As for South Africa, “[w]e need an energy mix that helps us develop”.
He confirmed he would again address the conference on Tuesday.
Comments
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation